Angus - county in Scotland, applied attrib. to a breed of cattle + Agnus Dei - a part of the Mass beginning with the words Agnus Dei; a figure of a lamb bearing a cross or flag + agnus (l) - lamb + Aengus - Irish love-god + Angus of the Brug - foster-father of Diarmuid (Cross & Slover: Ancient Irish Tales 379) + sanctus! sanctus! sanctus! - holy! holy! holy!
keykeeper - one who has the custody or control of the key of a house, room, chest, etc. + 'The overseer of the house of the overseer of the seal, Nu, triumphant, saith:' (frequent introduction in Budge's The Book of the Dead).
''There are seven gates,'' he said as a way of answering, ''and dreamers have to open all seven of them, one at the time.'' (Carlos Castaneda, The Art of Dreaming) + Cross & Slover: Ancient Irish Tales 379: (Diarmuid while eloping with Grainne) 'It is not told how they fared until they arrived at Doire Da Both, in the midst of Clan Ricard; and Diarmuid cut down the grove around him, and made to it seven doors of wattles, and he settled a bed of soft rushes and of the tops of the birch under Grainne in the very midst of that wood.' + (seven orifices of head).
dormitory - a sleeping-chamber; spec. a room containing a number of beds, or a gallery or building divided into cells or chambers each having a bed or beds in it, for the inmates of a monastery, school, or other institution.
household - the inmates of a house collectively; an organized family, including servants or attendants, dwelling in a house; a domestic establishment
give over - to leave off, finish, cease from (an action); to give up, abandon (an attempt, a habit, a mode of life)
give up - to cease from effort, leave off trying; to stop
mo ghradh (mugra) (gael) - my love + Mag Raith (mogra) - son of Mac Raith ("son of grace"): anglic. Magrath, Magraw, etc. + magraw (Anglo-Irish) - my love (from Irish: mo ghrádh).
hero + helot.
champignon (fr) - mushroom, toadstool + chest of a champion.
Cross & Slover: Ancient Irish Tales 358: 'Cumhall fell by Goll son of Morna. Luchet wounded Goll in his eye, so that he destroyed it. And hence it is that the name Goll (the One-eyed) attached to him'.
greenhouse - a glass-house in which delicate and tender plants are reared and preserved + greenhouse (Dublin Slang) - urinal, public toilet (from the paint colour) + 'The king was in his countinghouse, counting out his money' (nursery rhyme).
Gatling gun - a form of machine gun, with a cluster of barrels into which the cartridges are automatically loaded at the breech, invented by Dr. R. J. Gatling, and first used in the American civil war (1861-65).
Lannigan's Ball - an Irish ballad (also in Six Hundred and Seventeen Irish Songs and Ballads).
Shelbourne Hotel, Dublin + shellshock + The Shan Van Vocht (song).
gibbous - Of persons and animals: Hunch-backed; having a hump + While HCE's fall frequently takes the form of an escape which allows him to elude his pursuers by entering the afterlife, he may also make his way back again unobserved via the bottom of the social pyramid.
slip - to get out of or into a garment, etc., in an easy or hurried manner
noose - a loop, formed with a running knot, which tightens as the string or rope is pulled, as in a snare, lasso, hangman's halter, etc. + nosebag - a canvas bag that is used to feed an animal (such as a horse).
posthumus - a posthumous child (obs.) + Postumus (l) - "Last-born": Roman surname + posthumus (l) - "after burial" (erroneous ancient etymology for postumus) + postumus (l) - last, late-born, posthumous + Posthumus Leonatus - Imogen's husband in Cymbehine + Finn was born after his father's death (Cross & Slover: Ancient Irish Tales 361).
skip - to hasten, hurry, move lightly and rapidly; to make off
Schlummer (ger) - slumber + Schleim (ger) - mucous, slime + Shiel Martin - one of the summits on Howth.
shaver - boy, youngster
sailor suit - a suit similar to that of an ordinary seaman, worn mainly by small boys
times + Nine of Finn's men, all named Garb, were killed by Diarmuid in the quicken tree by his throwing them down in his own appearance so that the others attacked them (Cross & Slover: Ancient Irish Tales 402).
garb - style, manner, fashion; dress, costume + "A friend disguised in the garb of an enemy".
split - Of excessive laughter
madam + multum in parvo (l) - much in little.
impervious - fig. That one cannot get through or penetrate; in mod. use chiefly of a person or his mind.
wing (Slang) - penny
old boy - a former pupil of a (particular) boys' school, esp. an English public school
Wellesley (Wellington) + Old Wesley - Irish Rugby football club.
Wanderers - Irish Rugby football club
spat - to start up sharply or actively; to engage in a dispute + said
witty - capable of or given to saying (or writing) brilliant or sparkling things, esp. in an amusing way; smartly jocose or facetious
wagtail - a familiar or contemptuous epithet or form of address applied to a man or young woman (obs.); a small bird belonging to one of the species of the genus Motacilla, so called from the continual characteristic wagging motion of the tail + wagtail (Slang) - whore.
bishop - one of the pieces in the game of chess, having its upper part carved into the shape of a mitre + pawn to bishop's fourth (opening chess move in Queen's Gambit) + Diarmuid, hiding in the quicken tree of Dubros from Finn and Oisin playing chess below, throws berries at men on the board, prompting Oisin to move and win (Cross & Slover: Ancient Irish Tales 400-401) + James Joyce: A Portrait V: 'Pawn to king's fourth'.
moove = move (v.)
mumble - to utter in subdued or indistinct tones, to mutter + Mendelssohn
wedding march - a march (Mendelssohn's, if not otherwise specified) composed for performance at a wedding
crank - to make a harsh, jarring, or grating sound
honeymoon + harmonium.
Eve and Adam + James Joyce, Dubliners: 'Ivy Day in the Committee Room'.
HILL OF ALLEN - Hill (676 feet), 8 miles North-East of Kildare, County Kildare; famous in legend as the Otherworld seat of Finn MacCool. Seefin, a mound on its summit, is known as Finn's Chair. Alma on Almhain, Ir. "whitened" + Cross & Slover: Ancient Irish Tales 357: 'A stronghold was built by the druid then in Almu, and alamu (lime) was rubbed to its wall, until it was all white; and perhaps it was from that the name "Almu" was applied to it'.
Finneces - poet to whom Finn went to learn poetry and for whom he cooked the salmon of wisdom (Cross & Slover: Ancient Irish Tales 365) + finesse + vanities.
jitters - extreme nervousness, nervous incapacity, agitation
as right as trivet - thoroughly or perfectly right (in reference to a trivet's always standing firm on its three feet).
knot - to tie in a knot; to form a knot or knots in; to do up, fasten, or secure with a knot + knute (Norwegian) - knot + knotted (i.e. hanging).
now or never (phrase)
mind one's P's and Q's (peas and cues) - to be careful or particular as to one's words or behaviour
duett - to perform a duet
giggle - a giggling laugh
alanna - My child! Used as a form of address or as a term of endearment + Eileen Alannah (song).
diamond wedding - a fanciful name for the celebration of the 60th (or according to some, the 75th) anniversary of the wedding-day + do you mind waiting.
gallus (l) - a cock + Gallus (l) - a Gaul.
free and easy - unconstrained, natural, unaffected; also, careless, slipshod. Hence, easy-going; (morally) lax, permissive.
hooker - a prostitute; position in rugby + by the holy poker - a humorous asseveration, of Irish origin and uncertain meaning.
croak - the deep hoarse sound made by a frog or raven + free kicks.
Dublin + dove/raven (motif).
be out for - to have one's interests or energies directed to, to be intent on (something)
Cross & Slover: Ancient Irish Tales 417: (of Diarmuid) 'At Rath Finn he met his death'.
hike! (Irish) - stop!, halt!, go back! (call to horse)
hearse - a carriage or car constructed for carrying the coffin at a funeral
interprovincial - lying, extending, or carried on, between different provinces; pertaining to the mutual relations of two or more provinces
crucifixion - the action of crucifying, or of putting to death on a cross + *X* + the soldiers who crucified Jesus cast lots for his seemless robe [.34] [.36]
gossoon - a youth, a boy; a servant-boy, lackey
break news - to make it known, disclose; now implying caution and delicacy
mother + tomorrow + Break the News to Mother (song).
masterbuilder - one who is skilled in the art of building, an architect + myter = mitre + myter (Danish) - myths + Henrik Ibsen's master builder falls to his death at the end of the play.
fallen + full (Slang) - drunk.
asleep - into a state of sleep; esp, in the phrases to fall, lull, lay (bring obs.) asleep
wager - to offer or lay a wager, to make a bet
sonny boy - from the title of a popular song, a boy; a man younger than the speaker or writer; freq. as a term of address and with disparaging sense + Seon Buidhe (shon bwi) (gael) - Yellow John: John Bull (i.e. Englishman).
fleeter - a fugitive, deserter + Shaun (with his flashlamp).
Post pingne (pust pinine) (gael) - penny-post
inkling - an inclination, slight desire; a hint, a slight intimation or suggestion
solskin (Danish) - sunshine
signet - to stamp with a signet. Also fig. + segnet (ger) - bless + segne (Dutch) - sink + signed yours
strake = strike, stroke + strake (Nautical) - unit of depth.
hin (Irish Pronunciation) - hen + A Stroke of the Pen (song).
nup = nupson - a simpleton, a fool
gard - attention, watchfulness + God
amen + Mohn (ger) - poppy.
loop the loop (phrase) + Luke.
asscart - a cart drawn by an ass + Asgard - Norse home of the Gods + Aas (ger) - carrion + aas (Norwegian) - hill + kart (Norwegian) = Karte (German) - map.
ALLSOP AND SONS - Ale Stores, 30 Bachelor's Walk, around the turn of the century. Allsop's was a British ale.
four ghouls (*X*) + four goals to nil.
cut down - to reduce, abridge, retrench, curtail, esp. a speech, expenses, wages + (nail to cross).
slippy - Of persons: Nimble, spry, sharp, quick; esp. in phr. to be or look slippy.
swimming pool - an artificial pool designed for swimming in + date with a swimmingpool.
The execution or lynching of HCE is presented in similar terms to that of Christ when his executioners state mockingly: 'Isn't it great he is swaying above us for his good and ours.' (crucified or hanged).